1
'That can make for a dangerous beast' - How the Waratahs and Australian rugby have vastly improved
During his time with the Highlanders, Tony Brown believed the Australian Super Rugby franchises were too predictable.
ADVERTISEMENT
His theory proved to be accurate as the New Zealand sides enjoyed an incredible 40-match winning run over their Australian counterparts in a streak that lasted two years.
However, the Sunwolves head coach said he has seen a vast improvement in the way the game was being played in Australia, with the Waratahs leading the charge in their nation’s development of gameplay tactics.
Speaking on the Fox Rugby Podcast in the lead-up to their clash against the in-form Daryl Gibson-coached side in Newcastle, Brown said it was becoming more difficult to scout Australian outfits due to their implementation of kick-based tactics.
“It’s interesting because when I was with the Highlanders the Australian teams tended to hold the ball for a long time and they always believed that that was the way to win games of rugby,” the 44-year-old said.
“I felt as though we always had an advantage there because we just knew what they were going to do, and then you could plan around that and put them under real pressure.
“But, from what’s happened in the last couple of years and definitely the development of the Waratahs’ rugby, their kicking game has become a real weapon for them, and when you’ve got guys like Israel Folau, the aerial game is now a massive part of the Waratahs game as well.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They’ve developed their game hugely in the last couple of years and are actually playing a lot more like the Highlanders did a few years ago.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvc6_vRgC53/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Brown coached the Highlanders as an assistant to Jamie Joseph between 2013 and 2016, helping the franchise claim its maiden Super Rugby crown in 2015.
Following the departure of Joseph to the Japanese national side at the end of the 2016 campaign, Brown took the head coach title for the 2017 season, leading them to a quarter-final appearance.
He then followed Joseph to the Japanese national side and then Sunwolves, again as an assistant, but is now at the helm of the club that is set to face the axe from Super Rugby at the end of next year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite the dim future of the Tokyo-based club, Brown was optimistic of what his side can produce in their immediate future.
A win against the Waratahs this weekend would be an upset, especially considering New South Wales side’s shock 20-12 win over the back-to-back reigning champion Crusaders last week, but the Sunwolves nearly produced a victory in an enthralling 31-30 loss in the reverse fixture in Tokyo last month.
“The Waratahs will be pretty happy with themselves after an awesome win against the Crusaders, not many teams have been able to upset those guys in the last few years, so that’s a pretty awesome result for Gibbo and his boys,” Brown said.
“As far as our chances go, if we get our game right, we try and move the Waratahs boys around a bit and hopefully entice them into playing a bit of Sunwolves rugby like we did in Tokyo, then we’ll be able to potentially have a good old ding dong battle and something that could be quite entertaining.”
Watch – Waratahs head coach Daryl Gibson ahead of Sunwolves clash:
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
27 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
27 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
27 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments